VMob widens first half loss as it chases international growth

VMob Group, the NZAX listed mobile voucher developer, widened its first half loss as it chased international scale and growth.

The Auckland based company widened its loss to $1.98 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, from a loss of $738,000 a year earlier, it said in a statement. Sales rose 283 percent to $502,000, while costs rose 186 percent to $2.57 million. As at Sept. 30 it held cash of $2.94 million, up from $504,000 a year earlier.

VMob's mission is to "use mobile to bring shoppers back into stores" using targeted vouchers to build in-store loyalty from data collected on its Microsoft Azure cloud platform. During the year chief executive Scott Bradley relocated to the US where the company is hoping to tap into retailers' shift to more mobile based advertising.

In August the company added Japan to its deal with McDonalds, building on sales to the fast food giant in the Netherlands and Sweden. Other customers include Esso Norway, Spark, Vodafone and 2Degrees, and it has a partnership with Loyalty New Zealand for its Fly Buys mobile programme.

In its New Zealand segment, the company lifted operating revenue 442 percent to $298,000 while its UK and Europe segment boosted sales 37 percent to $104,000. Its new Asia segment, reflecting the Japanese deal, reported $100,000 in operating revenue.

VMob completed a backdoor listing on to the stock exchange's small cap NZAX in 2012 using the shell company Velo Capital. Since then it has regularly raised capital by issuing shares, and currently has about 1.26 billion on issue. The company is about one third owned by interests associated with Bradley.

Shares of the company were unchanged at 1.2 cents, and have fallen some 63 percent since the start of the year.

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